bent tire

wongcasey

i lost control driving in the snow today and hit the curb at an angle
the front right tire now bends inward (toe-out i think they call it) and i have to turn my steering wheel to the left to get the car to drive straight

is this a bent axle? control arm? suspension?
and what is the price for repair?

there are no major damage to the rim and tire by visual inspection

notgoddy

But could he had gone far with a bent axle?

pkphilip

Just bring it to a mechanic that you trust and have him have a look. Usually if you hit a curb, it can affect other things along the wheel as well.

Philip

字典仔

wongcasey: if ur wheel is bent inward, that's called toe in (that means the right front wheel is pointing towards inside of the car, which is left); but the car should pull to the left and u should have to correct it back to the right?!

anyways, usually when u hit a curb, depends on speed and angle, the very first thing usually bent is control arm; i have seen serve damage that goes to knuckle, shocks, subframe, tie rod, steering rack, sway bar etc etc...

a mechanic should be able to visually tell u what u have to replace at the minimum, and alignment check will give u a more "specific" list of what repair needs to be done.

If you have to replace your knuckle, make sure u replace the bearing and i would normally suggest the hub to go with it; have heard friend's car one or two years after the repair the wheel bearing goes because the hub was also damaged during the accident...

last, but not least; can everyone who asks a question also let ppl know what year / make / model of car they drive? diff car has diff suspension design so it could be diff things?!

wongcasey

dictionary boy: i meant to say bent outwards, meaning the tire points to the right now when my steering wheel is straight, so i have to turn to the left in order to go straight

and i drive a 05 legacy gt auto with no mods

just a question, is it still safe to drive it around? (ie to the shop) or do i need to get it towed?
i hit the curb about 20 seconds from my house so i still drove it home
but i haven't moved the car since

字典仔

wongcasey: yeah that's toe out then lolz

oh sweet, sedan or wagon? my parents have a 05 Legacy 2.5i Limited Wagon, and that's my winter car right now (my civic is still on R Compounds keke)

i can't tell u if ur car needs towing or not, but definitely not a good idea to drive right now on slippery surface; have done so many subie that hit a curb (because ppl thinks it's AWD and forgot about their snow tires, AWD got ur car going but tires didn't get to stop)

have done curb damage on a subie and the damage went up to over $6k (icbc claim, lower control arm / knuckle / hub / bearing / shocks / front sway bar / tie rods / steering rack / subframe / oil pan / header / fender / door (wheel pushed fender to dent door) etc...

does ur car rub anything after the accident? how does it feel when u drive home? when the snow clears up, maybe u can try driving it to an apointment shop (see aside from steering wheel is not centre and the car pulls a little, does it affect braking and seems like steering is out of control etc)?

last year i have done a corolla, control arm wasn't bent, but tie rod broke! steering rack is okay and with alignment etc i think it was $4xx...

wongcasey

from the short distance that i drove home, the only problem i noticed was the steering adjustment
other than that, the tire is not rubbing against anything
the braking seemed okay, but i was driving very slow after the hit
i didn't really notice significant sounds other than the snow beneath the wheels

the tires is about several degree toe-out and it's only noticeable if you stare at it in detail

i'm thinking of bringing it to a tire/wheel alignment shop tomorrow (since the snow is starting to melt already) and see if they could do an inspection for me and tell me what needs to be fixed and what are the costs

i'm trying to avoid icbc as much as possible, if you know what i mean

WaruiOne

well, if it is $6k... its probably cheaper to go icbc.
but for something cheap, ya, avoid it.

anyways, i had to get my old car's axle replaced once when i hit the curb once, and that was over $1k at the time (4 yrs ago?).... it was a Toyota too, so the parts should have been cheaper already?

字典仔

wongcasey: yeah get the alignment checked and see what kinda repair needs to be done, usually if the rim is still "ok" and tire is not blown, damage wouldn't be soooo bad (but expecting anywhere from $500 to $1500 for now ~ and hope a wheel alignment will fix the problem)

my friend is not as lucky with her X3, u should probably get some snow tires and be ready for winter driving

waruione: it really depends on the person's insurance premium, i have calculated before if a person has 20% to 0% kinda range, i think repair cost up to $5000 will still be cheaper than losing the discount....unless u are a roadstar or goldstar, some time claiming insurance and bringing up ur insurance is not really worth it (my friend is paying $200 a month on his $800 beater, cuz he used to claim whatever ~ even small claim, then later on he starts to buy third party but insurance still goes so high up because he never pays off any claim)